If you haven’t been following along we had our eye on The Madison Changing Table plans for baby Huthbert’s nursery for awhile. We started in on the project in October hoping to finish before BH’s due date in November. BH decided to arrive a little early on 27 October so we are just now finishing up this project. You can see BH pictures here and here.

The completed base for the Madison Changing Table

It may be awhile before I get to posting the completed Madison Changing Table post since I’m not sure it’ll happen before the big cross country move. You can now see the COMPLETED MADISON CHANGING TABLE!!

We used these plans from Ana’s site for the general inspiration. As you can see we made some significant changes to the shelves/cupboards. Since we were on a bit of a time constraint with the impending arrival of our little bundle of joy, we decided to nix the drawers all together and instead make three open face shelves. This made the larger cupboard and door face area a little shorter than in Ana’s plans. We made most of these changes on the fly while sitting in the garage… with no paper.. just writing on wood scraps 🙂 Please excuse us if the directions aren’t perfect.

This piece cost around $75. That estimate is including wood, hinges, knobs, wood filler, screws, nails, paint, etc. The hinges were probably the most expensive part.

Keep in mind that these pictures are showing the base upside down

Lumber List:

(1) Sheet 3/4″ plywood

(1) Sheet of 1/4″ MDF or Plywood for the Back

40″ of 3/4″ Edge trim

(1) 1×2 @ 8ft

(2-3) Pallet Boards (depends on size of pallet boards)

(1) 1×10 (for cupboards) @ 10ft

Cut List:

(1) 40×34 1/4″ Plywood (Back)

Pallet Boards-Cut to fit

(2) 5-1/2×16 (Top Vertical Dividers)

(1) 40×16 3/4″Plywood (Top Piece)

(2) 1×16 @ 33-1/4″ (Sides)

(1) 1×16 @ 38-1/2″ (Bottom of Top Shelves)

(1) 1×15-1/4″ @ 24-1/2″ (Vertical Divider)

(1) 1×15-1/4″ @ 22-3/4″ (Inside Shelf)

(1) 1×16 @ 38-1/2″ (Bottom)

(1) 1×2 @ 38-1/2″ (Inside Bottom)

40″ of 3/4″ Trim (Top outside Trim)

Cupboards- we cut a 1×10 board into pieces, screwed them together and sanded/cut them to fit

Supply List:

Saw

Wood Glue

Kreg Jig

Finishing Nails

1-1/4″ Self tapping screws

Full in-set hinges

2″ Knobs

Primer

Paint of your choice

Polycrylic

Polyeurethane

Step 1: Attach Dividers to Top

We started off with attaching our 5-1/2×16 dividers to the 40×16 top piece. We used 3 pocket holes and wood glue to connect the pieces.

Step 2: Attaching the Sides

Next we attached our 1×16 @ 33-1/4″ sides using wood glue and 3 pocket holes on each side. We didn’t store our wood properly so the sides were a little warped which made things much more difficult. Learn from our mistakes and make sure to store your wood properly!

Step 3: Bottom of Top Shelves

Step 4: Center Vertical Divider

We attached the 1×15-1/4 @ 24-1/2″ vertical divider using wood glue and 3 pocket holes. We had to make sure this piece was flush with the back to make room for the cupboard doors. Although we tried accounting for the cupboard doors we still ended up routing the cupboards to ensure a smooth fit.

Step 5: Inside Shelf

Next we attached the 1×15-1/4 @ 22-3/4″ again we made sure this piece was flush with the back. Although we allowed for cupboard space we still ended up routing the cupboard to guarantee a smooth fit.

Step 6: Inner Trim and bottom piece

We attached the bottom 1×16 @ 38-1/2″ piece using wood glue, 3 finishing nails and 6 pocket holes. This should be placed 2-1/2″ from the bottom. After attaching the bottom piece we used two pocket holes to add the bottom 1×2 @ 38-1/2″ inner trim piece.

Step 7: Top Outside Trim

We added the upper outside trim to the top using finishing nails and wood glue. In order to avoid cracks in the trim we drilled a pilot hole.

Step 8: Back

We first cut the back out (1/4″ Plywood 40 x 34), primed and painted it (we thought it’d be easier to paint everything before it was all put together. Since we decided to continue on with the pallet backing theme we then prepped the pallet boards by sanding them using our orbital sander (using 120 & 220 grit) and then applied one coat of Minwax Dark Walnut Stain and two coats of Minwax Polyurethane semi-gloss. Before we inserted the pallet backing we filled all gaps and crevices in with wood filler and then primed and painted the entire piece. We used two coats of Zinsser 1-2-3 Primer and two coats of Behr Irish Mist paint. We then cut the pallet boards to fit and glued them in with wood glue.

Step 9: Cupboards

This was our first time making cupboards so they were definitely not perfect, but still not bad for our first attempt.

To make the cupboards we screwed two 1×10’s together via pocket holes and filled in the gaps with wood filler. we then cut them to fit. We had to do some sanding because of warped boards but it all worked out 🙂

We routed out a groove to accommodate the horizontal shelf divider and the vertical center divider. Then continued on with applying Minwax Dark Walnut stain and Minwax Polyeurthane. We used full in-set hinges to attach each cupboard. I forgot to take any before and after pictures of the knobs we used. But we used 2″ wooden knobs from Home Depot and painted them sun yellow.

COMPLETE!!!!Unfortunately we probably won’t have time to post the entire Madison Changing table put together before the big move.You can see the Madison Changing Table put together HERE! We have a few things we want to add to it before we’re officially done with it. Regardless, we are very excited with how everything has turned out! Can’t wait to decorate BH’s room in the new house!

The completed base for the Madison Changing table!You can get the tutorial for the side bases HERE

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About Us

Hey, we're Dorris & JG. This is where we share our endeavors in all things DIY, home improvement, and general carpentry. Between never ending house projects and building furniture we stay busy chasing our toddler son around. Read More…